Brokerages Set Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) Target Price at $56.78

Shares of Hancock Whitney Co. (NASDAQ:HWC) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.78.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on HWC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Hancock Whitney from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Hancock Whitney from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Insider Activity at Hancock Whitney

In other Hancock Whitney news, Director Frank E. Bertucci sold 2,053 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.03, for a total transaction of $117,082.59. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,286,254.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hancock Whitney

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hancock Whitney during the fourth quarter worth $46,846,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 707.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 576,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,563,000 after purchasing an additional 504,873 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 213.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 735,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,663,000 after purchasing an additional 501,259 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 30.9% during the second quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 1,069,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,141,000 after purchasing an additional 252,473 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Hancock Whitney by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,749,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,786,000 after purchasing an additional 249,944 shares during the period. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hancock Whitney Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of HWC stock opened at $52.46 on Tuesday. Hancock Whitney has a 1 year low of $32.16 and a 1 year high of $57.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Hancock Whitney (NASDAQ:HWC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $359.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $359.11 million. Hancock Whitney had a net margin of 18.63% and a return on equity of 11.51%. Hancock Whitney’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hancock Whitney will post 5.1 EPS for the current year.

Hancock Whitney Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Hancock Whitney’s dividend payout ratio is 37.30%.

About Hancock Whitney

Hancock Whitney Corporation operates as the financial holding company for Hancock Whitney Bank that provides traditional and online banking services to commercial, small business, and retail customers. It offers various transaction and savings deposit products consisting of brokered deposits, time deposits, and money market accounts; treasury management services, secured and unsecured loan products including revolving credit facilities, and letters of credit and similar financial guarantees; and trust and investment management services to retirement plans, corporations, and individuals, and investment advisory and brokerage products.